donald d. joye

The Hawk of Yonezawa is a short novel, or novella, about the fictional adventures of Johann Sebastian Bach who is transported to the island of Japan. Bach is on a rare trip outside his world of Leipzig, Germany, a little after the year 1742. The coach breaks down and he misses the concert that would have featured George Frederic Handel performing his own works. On the return trip he meets a twelve-year-old boy and his young mother.

They find that he knows how to play the organ and so they invite him to fix the one at their church. Bach refuses graciously, but once more the stagecoach breaks down, and Bach is transported in a dream with the boy and his mother to Japan, where he is beset with adventures while trying to fix the local church organ. This novella is written for a general, religious and musically inquisitive audience. It is family fare, suitable also for high school and college readers.